Bedfordshire On Sunday deputy editor Liz O’Reilly got her 15 minutes of fame – and a bit more – last week when she appeared on Channel 4’s Ten Years Younger, in which a team of experts attempt to take years off someone’s age in a few weeks.
Here she tells the behind the scenes story.

I got involved with Ten Years Younger almost as a joke.

A press release came into the office asking for publicity to get contributors for the programme and I decided to apply – not thinking for one minute that I actually looked old enough to be considered.

Liz before

So it came as a bit of a shock when the producers decided I was just what they were looking for and 100 people put my age at 47. It’s bad enough being 40 (thank you very much) and as for those people who guessed me at closer to 60 – I know where you live!

No one else seems to have noticed them but I have been very conscious of my crooked teeth for years, so the chance to get them fixed at someone else’s expense was just too good to miss and was the real reason I applied.

I must admit though, I hadn’t quite bargained with the hundreds of hours in the gym that were also required. OK, maybe it wasn’t quite that long – but it sure felt like it.

Still, when a personal trainer tells you your body is more like a nightclub than a temple you know you need to do something pretty drastic – though I have to say in hindsight I know which one I’d rather spend the evening in.

So it was four trips into London each week to see Matt Scott, who trained Ellen McArthur prior to her record-breaking round-the-world sail.

I spent weekends in hotels going to the gym Saturday night and Sunday morning (I suppose that’s one way of staying out of the pub) and trying very hard to follow a strict diet.

And I have to admit that, much as I moaned at the time, I did feel better for it very quickly. Even a fall off the wagon involving a 4am party followed by copious bacon butties didn’t take the shine off my halo for very long.

I think my least favourite part of the whole experience, apart from my poor dog having to leave home for a few weeks, was having fillers injected into my face.

I’m one of those people who cannot lie because my face always gives me away. My eyebrows spend half the time in my hairline and, contrary to what some of my colleagues might tell you, I’m quite smiley and like a laugh.

The consequences: a series of pronounced lines, which Dr Patrick Bowler was brought in to address.

The Botox was a breeze and I was quite surprised on the programme to see I’d had 15 injections. But the Restylane filler used at the corners of my mouth was a different matter altogether.

Whenever you see it done on the television it appears painless but all I can say is those women must have skin of leather. It flippin’ hurt. A lot. The director did a great job of editing out my whimpering but I can assure you I was whinging for Britain.

Of course, the piece de resistance was finally getting straight, white teeth.

On my first meeting with dentist Surrinder Hundle I told him I wanted a Hollywood smile.

Five-and-a-half hours in the chair and ten veneers at £1,200 each, later on – and that was what I got.

I have to confess that I’ve had a lot of sensitivity since the treatment but I’m told this is normal and will eventually die down. I’ve also taken to drinking through a straw partly because of the aforesaid sensitivity and partly because ten or 12 cups of very strong tea per day would do my lovely new teeth no favours. Preparation for the show also involved a haircut and colour and a fabby shopping trip during which I got lots of tips on how to update my wardrobe (the major one being get rid of those horrible grey jeans – I haven’t).

Liz after

Then, suitably primped and made-up I took to the streets of London with presenter Nicky Hambleton-Jones to find out if I really could look Ten Years Younger in just a few weeks.

The answer from members of the public was a resounding “yes” and even now, a few months on, I am still reaping the benefits.

I love my new teeth, am still going to the gym (sort of) and I might even go back to see Patrick when the injections wear off, if I’m feeling brave.

All in all taking part in Ten Years Younger was a pretty positive experience – though it didn’t feel that way at 8.29pm on Wednesday, sitting in the pub with my colleagues and waiting to be humiliated.

But it wasn’t that bad, I got my teeth and I’d definitely do it again – I think.